1
Q
What is the role of forensic psychologists?
A
- Criminal Forensic Evaluations
- Civil Forensic Evaluations
- Consultation & training to law enforcement, justice & correctional systems
- Consultation & training to mental health systems
2
Q
What training do forensic psychologists need?
A
○ Requirements include having an advanced degree, supervised clinical work and a licensing exam
○ Enforcement of codes of conduct
3
Q
What is Haney’s taxonomy?
A
Psychology IN law
Psychology OF law
Psychology AND law
4
Q
What is psychology IN law?
A
○ Explicit and conventional use of psychology by lawyers in the legal process
○ Most common role of psychologists, though role is often passive
Examples: psychological testimony on legal issues (e.g., insanity defense or competency to stand trial)
5
Q
What is psychology OF law?
A
○ Psychologists study issues such as why people need and obey the law
○ Role of psychologist autonomous
○ Two categories of examination:
§ Origins/existence of law and the psychological function it serves
§ How laws operate as a determinant of behaviour
6
Q
What is the role of an expert witness?
A
§ Aid in understanding a particular issue (testify regarding research, theory, or mental health)
§ The only type of witness who can offer opinions
§ Contrasts with regular witnesses who can only testify about what they have directly observed
7
Q
What are the 4 sources of law?
A
Charter of rights and freedoms
Legislation
Common-law
Administrative tribunals
8
Q
What is stare decisis?
A
like cases must be decided alike
9
Q
What are the 4 levels of court?
A
Supreme Court of Canada
Provincial court of appeal
Provincial superior court
provincial courts
10
Q
what is actus reus?
A
the act that constitutes a criminal act, “guilty act”
11
Q
what is mens rea?
A
the mental state of the perpetrator at the time of the offence, “guilty mind”
12
Q
What are summary offenses?
A
- Less serious
- Penalties (fine not more than $2000 and/or prison term of not more than 6 months)
- Typically 6 month limitation to lay charges
- Hear in provincial court
No preliminary inquiry, no jury
13
Q
what are indictable offences?
A
- More serious offences
- Three classifications
○ Those within exclusive jurisdiction of a Superior Court (e.g., first degree murder)
○ Those within an exclusive jurisdiction of a Provincial Court (e.g., gaming hour)
○ Those that are electable by accused (e.g., manslaughter)
- Three classifications
14
Q
What are the 2 types of defences?
A
- Identification (denial of involvement)
- Involvement Admitted
a. Negate actus reus - actions not under voluntary control
b. Negate mens rea - requisite mens rea not present
c. Justification - argues that actions justified (e.g., self-defence)
d. Excuse - legal excuse for the act (e.g., provocation)
- Involvement Admitted
15
Q
FRYE V. UNITED STATES (passed polygraph test)
A
• Resulted in general acceptance test:
○ In order for novel scientific evidence to be admissible, it must be established that the procedures used to arrive at the testimony are generally accepted in the scientific community
○ Compare probative value against prejudicial consequences
§ Probative - proves a particular point or is useful in deciding an issue
§ Prejudicial - potential bias evidence or testimony could case
16
Q
DAUBERT V. MERREL DOW (birth defect)
A
• Testimony is admissible if it is: 1. Provided by a qualified expert 2. Relevant 3. Reliable as determined by Daubert criteria • The criteria requires the research: ○ Be peer reviewed ○ Be testable (falsifiable through experimentation) ○ Have a known error rate ○ Adhere to professional standards
17
Q
R V. MOHAN (Dr teens)
A
• Judges use Mohan Criteria to determine whether expert witness is necessary
○ Testimony is necessary to the case
○ Opinion must be relevant to the case
○ Expert witness has appropriate qualifications
○ Information doesn’t violate rules of execution
18
Q
What are the 3 types of plea bargains?
A
○ Charge bargaining - involves promises concerning the nature of the charges to be laid
○ Sentence bargaining - involves promises relating to the ultimate sentence
○ Fact bargaining - involves promises concerning the facts that the Crown may bring to the attention of the trial judge
19
Q
What is the competency doctrine?
A
○ Allows postponement of proceedings
§ Accused has right to assist counsel, confront accusers and testify on own behalf
§ Unfair to try defendant if unable to participate
§ Protects dignity and integrity of court proceedings
20
Q
What is the difference between fitness to stand trial and criminal responsibility?
A
• Fitness to Stand trial
○ Pertains to the mental state of the accused at the time of trial or at some specific point in the proceedings
○ Can be raised by defence, prosecution, or court
• Criminal Responsibility
○ Insanity defence in Canada is now referred to as Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder (NCRMD)
○ A defence that pertains to the accused’s mental state at the time of the offence
21
Q
What does it mean to be “unfit to stand trial”?
A
• “unfit to stand trial” means unable on account of mental disorder to conduct a defence at any stage of the proceedings before a verdict is rendered or to instruct counsel to do so, and, in particular, unable on account of mental disorder to
A. Understand the nature or object of the proceedings
B. Understand the possible consequences of the proceedings or
C. Communicate with counsel
22
Q
R V. PRITCHARD (marijuana deaf)
A
• Three issues identified
○ Whether the defendant is mute of malice
○ Whether the defendant can plead to the indictment
○ Whether the defendant has sufficient cognitive capacity to understand proceedings
23
Q
R V. TAYLOR (blood test w/o lawyer)
A
- The accused need only be able to communicate the relevant facts to his lawyer so that the lawyer can properly present the case to the court (limited cognitive capacity test)
- The accused need not have the ability to act in his own interest
- In Canada, accused must only be able to understand the nature and object of the proceedings as well as the possible consequences of those proceedings
24
Q
What does an assessment of fitness include?
A
○ Interview
○ Forensic assessment instruments
○ Third-party information
25
What is the FIT-R? What are the 3 sections? What are 2 subsections of each section?
• FIT-R (Fitness Interview Test-Revised)
○ Section I - Understand the Nature or Object of the Proceedings
§ Understanding of arrest process
§ Understanding of the nature and severity of current charges
§ Understanding the role of key players
§ Understanding of legal processes
§ Understanding of pleas
§ Understanding of court procedure
○ Section II - Understand the Possible Consequences
§ Appreciation of range and nature of possible penalties
§ Appraisal of available legal defenses
§ Appraisal of likely outcome
○ Section III - Communicate with Counsel
§ Capacity to communicate facts to lawyer
§ Capacity to relate to lawyer
§ Capacity to plan legal strategy
§ Capacity to engage in own defence
§ Capacity to challenge prosecution witness
§ Capacity to testify relevantly
§ Capacity to manage courtroom behaviour
26
What is the M'Naughten standard?
○ A person is presumed sane unless it can be:
"clearly proven that at the time of the committing of the act, the party accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature an quality of the act he was doing; or, if he did know, that he did not know he was doing what was wrong"
○ Three substantive elements of the standard:
§ "a defect of reason, from DISEASE OF THE MIND"
§ The defendant did not "know" the NATURE AND QUALITY of the act he was doing
§ Whether the defendant knew what he was doing WAS WRONG
27
What are the 3 options of NCRMD acquittals?
○ Absolute discharge
○ Conditional discharge
○ Hospitalization
28
What is NCRMD?
• Criminal code of Canada (s. 16)
○ (1) No person is criminally responsible for an act committed or an omission made while suffering from a mental disorder that rendered the person incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act or omission or of knowing that it was wrong
○ Presumption
(2) every person is presumed not to suffer from a mental disorder so as to be exempt from criminal responsibility by virtue of subsection (1), until the contrary is proved on the balance of probabilities
29
What are the 2 types of risk assessments?
```
• Civil Risk Assessments
○ Civil commitment
○ Child protection
○ School and labour
• Criminal risk assessments
○ Pretrial
○ Sentencing
○ Release
```
30
What are the 3 approaches to risk assessment?
• Unstructured Clinical Judgement
○ Ideographic and qualitative in nature
• Actuarial Decision Making
○ Nomothetic and quantitative in nature
○ Algorithmic, objective approach
○ More accurate when directly compared to UCJ
• Structured Professional Judgement
○ Melding of approaches
○ Consideration of risk factors and professional experience temper actuarial predictions
31
What must a violence risk assessment consider? NSFIL
```
Nature
Severity
Frequency
Imminence
Likelihood
```
• May occur in: sentencing and release, capital sentencing, dangerous offenders, sexually violent predator
32
What is the CTS-2 and what is it used for?
Conflict Tactics Scale 2, measures of intimate partner assault
33
What are the 3 theories of IPV?
* Patriarchy - broad set of cultural beliefs and values that support male dominance of females
* Social Learning Theory - Origins of aggression, Instigators of aggression, Regulators of aggression
* Evolutionary Psychology Theory - Selective pressures
34
What are the 4 different types of homicide?
- infanticide (killing of a baby)
- manslaughter (unintentional; in the heat of passion)
- second-degree murder (deliberate but not planned)
- first-degree murder (planned and deliberate)
35
What are the bimodal classifications of homicide?
• Reactive (affective)
○ Impulsive, unplanned, or in response to perceived provocation
○ Victims are most often relatives
• Instrumental (predatory)
○ Proactive, premeditated or motivated by a goal
Victims are most often strangers
36
```
What is...
Filicide?
Familicide?
Femicide?
Uxoricide?
Androcide?
Mariticide?
Sexual homicide?
```
* Filicide - killing of children by parents
* Familicide - killing of spouse and children
* Femicide - killing of a woman
* Uxoricide - killing of a wife by a husband
* Androcide - killing of a man
* Mariticide - killing of a husband by a wife
* Sexual homicide - killing that involves sexual component
37
What is the general aggression model?
The General Aggression Model (GAM) explains aggression through developmental, social-cognitive, and social learning theories.
38
What is the definition of psychopathy?
Psychopathy is a personality style defined by a collection of interpersonal, affective, and behavioral characteristics
39
What is antisocial personality disorder?
A personality disorder characterized by a history of behaviours in which the rights of others are violated
• There are 7 adult symptoms
○ Engaging in criminal activity
○ Risk taking
○ Being deceitful
○ Irritability and aggressiveness
○ Reckless disregard for safety of self or others
○ Consistent irresponsibility
○ Having little guilt for one’s behaviours
40
What is the response modulation deficit theory of psychopathy?
○ Psychopaths fail to use contextual cues that are peripheral to a dominant response set to modulate their behaviour
○ Do not pay attention to cues that would inhibit behaviours
○ Fail to learn to avoid punishment
41
What is the affective theory of psychopathy?
○ Psychopaths have a deficit in the experience of certain critical emotions that guide prosocial behaviour
○ Possible amygdala dysfunction
42
What is the definition of malingering?
“intentional production of false or grossly exaggerated physical or psychological symptoms, motivated by external incentives such as...evading criminal prosecution”
43
What is the definition of defensiveness?
Defensiveness refers to the conscious denial or minimization of physical or psychological symptoms
Explanations of Malingering
44
What is the pathogenic model of malingering?
○ Malingering results from an underlying mental disorder
○ Patient gains control over pathology by creating fictitious symptoms
○ Little empirical support
45
What is the criminological model of malingering?
○ Antisocial personality disorder (APD)
○ Lack of cooperation during assessment
○ Discrepancy between self and others reports
○ Research does not support an association between APD or cooperation and malingering
46
What is the adaptational model of malingering?
○ A perceived adversarial context
○ Personal stakes are high
○ No other viable alternatives perceived
○ Research supports this model
47
What is the...
SIRS
MMPI-2
PAI
• Structured Interview of Reported Systems (SIRS)
○ Structured interview
○ 172 items organized on 8 scales
○ Good validity
• Minnesota Multiphasic personality inventory 2 (MMPI-2)
○ 567 item inventory
○ Scales to detect unusual or atypical symptoms
○ Most useful at detecting malingerers
• Personality assessment inventory (PAI)
○ 344 item inventory
○ Scales to detect unusual or atypical symptoms
○ Most useful at detecting malingerers
48
What are the 3 domains of civil forensic assessment?
* Health - focus on evaluating nature and severity of psychological impairment (personal injury)
* Children and families - focus on legal issues related to interest of children and families in conflict (guardianship)
* Employment and education - focus on infringement of rights (harassment)
49
What is the definition of civil commitment?
Civil commitment: involuntary treatment or hospitalization of individuals on the grounds they pose a risk to themselves or others on account of mental disorder
• Law allows infringement on the basic rights and freedoms of citizens
○ Parens Patriae Power - government has responsibility to protect citizens
○ Police power - to enforce criminal and keep the peace
50
MCCORKELL V. RIVERVIEW
• Decisions about civil commitment must respect the least restrictive alternative practice
○ Protection of person and public must impose minimal infringement of person's rights and freedoms
51
What are the 3 general requirements for civil commitment evaluations?
○ Person suffers from mental disorder
○ Person currently poses certain risk
○ Causal Nexus - the risk stems from the mental disorder
52
What are the 4 types of child custody arrangements?
1. Sole custody - one parent has legal and physical custody and other has limited right to visit
2. Joint custody - both parents share legal or physical custody and make decisions together
3. Shared custody - both parents have joint custody and each spends at least 40% of the time with the child
4. Split custody - one parent has custody over some of the children while the other parent has custody over the others
53
What is the definition of parenting capacity evaluations?
Parenting Capacity Evaluations: psychological assessments of people's suitability to act as caregivers for children
54
What is the best interest child doctrine? and what are the 3 problems?
Best Interest of Child Doctrine - decisions should provide children with environments likely to ensure optimal development
• Three problems with this doctrine:
○ It is difficult to measure relevant factors reliably or determine how much weight to assign to each factor (e.g., what age should the child's preference be considered)
○ It may unintentionally escalate conflicts and litigations between parents
○ It asks courts to predict the future
55
What is the definition of child maltreatment?
• Child Maltreatment: the abuse or neglect of children by parents or other people in a position of power, trust or responsibility
○ "violation of community standards"
○ Acts or omissions considered child maltreatment when they are culturally abnormal or deviant
○ Hard to distinguish between harsh discipline an child maltreatment
56
What is the definition of child abuse?
• Child Abuse: the commission of acts that deliberately or recklessly threaten the safety and well-being of children
○ Physical abuse involves actual, attempted, or threatened injury of a child
○ Sexual abuse involves actual, attempted or threatened sexual contact that is inappropriate due to the perpetrators age or relationship to a child
○ Emotional abuse involves actual, attempted, or threatened psychological or social harm of a child
57
What is the definition of child neglect?
• Child neglect: the omission of acts that deliberately or recklessly threaten the wellbeing of children
58
What is the role of psychology in child protection?
* Ethical duty to promote adjustment of children & protect from harm
* Legal duty to report suspected child maltreatment
* Theory and research can further understanding of children's wellbeing & sense of dignity
* Assist the development and evaluation of services designed to prevent and respond to child maltreatment
* Research can assist in development and evaluation of more general public policy
59
What does the Canadian Human Rights Act prohibit?
* Discrimination of employment because of personal characteristics
* Discrimination based on national or ethnic origin, race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, disability, religion, creed, political belief, association, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, and marital or family status
* Termination without cause or without providing reasonable notice or providing pay in lieu of such pay
60
What is the definition of correctional psychology?
Correctional psychology: application of clinical psychology to prison or correctional setting
61
What is diversion?
• Diversion: diverted from criminal justice system to receive treatment and social supports, participation in program associated with longer time without new charges
62
What is intervention?
• Intervention: correction program (e.g. pharmacological, behavioural, cognitive-behavioural), correctional programming can be effective, both psychiatric and correctional treatment is required
63
What are the 3 groups of the forensic population? PCM
* Mental disorder is PRIMARY target of treatment (not guilty by reason of insanity)
* Mental disorder is CONTRIBUTING FACTOR (sex offenders at high risk for violence)
* Mental disorder plays MINOR ROLE (recidivism and rehabilitation are focus of intervention)
64
What is the JSAT?
Jail screening assessment tool screens for mental health concerns
65
What is the RNR model?
• Sound conceptual model - RISK NEEDS RESPONSIBILITY (RNR Model)
○ Important factors
§ Mental illness
§ Recovery
§ Emotions management
§ Institutional functioning
§ Re-entry
§ Risk-need
§ Personal growth
○ Risk Principle (WHO) - Higher risk offenders
§ Primary goals of Risk Principle:
□ Target those offenders with a higher probability of recidivism
□ Provide the most intensive treatment to higher risk offenders
□ Avoid intensive treatment for lower risk offenders due to risk of recidivism
□ Risk factors: attitudes and beliefs, friends, history of antisocial behaviour, personality, employment, family, substance abuse
○ Need Principle (WHAT) - Criminogenic needs
§ Primary goals of Need Principle:
□ Assess and identify criminogenic needs
□ Target criminogenic needs
□ Focused interventions
□ Criminogenic needs: family, vocational skills and employment, anger, self-control, self-management skills, prosocial modelling, antisocial attitudes, substance abuse treatment, reducing antisocial peer contacts, relapse prevention. Non-criminogenic needs: stress or anxiety, self-esteem, cohesiveness of peer groups, discipline, vague emotional problems, fear of official punishment, physical activity, creativity
○ Responsivity Principle (HOW) - approach and matching
§ Most effective interventions are behavioural
□ Focus on current factors that influence behaviour
□ Action oriented
□ Offender behaviours are appropriately reinforced
§ Most effective behavioural models are:
□ Social learning - practice new skills and behaviours
□ Cognitive behavioural approaches that target criminogenic needs
§ Optional: Treatment Principle (HOW) - behavioural approaches, Program Integrity Principle - quality
□ Ineffective approaches: talking cures, drug education, bibliotherapy, self-help programs, medical model, self-esteem, punishing smarter programs
□ Factors affecting program integrity: inclusion of risk need and treatment principles, staff, assessment practices, evaluation
□ Program integrity can be measured using CPAI (correctional program assessment inventory)
66
what is the definition of competence?
Competence: whether a witness is allowed to testify in court
67
What is the definition of credibility?
Credibility: refers to the weighting of testimony in court
• Includes two concepts:
○ Perceived honesty
○ Cognitive ability
• Younger children are seen as more credible
68
What is the definition of children's suggestibility?
Children's suggestibility: the degree to which encoding, storage, retrieval and reporting of events can be influenced by a range of social and psychological factors
• Factors contributing to suggestibility:
○ Development limitations in children
○ Children are susceptible to biases and peer influences
○ Social compliance - desire to trust and want to cooperate with adults
○ Children differ in the ways they encode, store, and retrieve information
○ Children can misattribute where information comes from
69
What are the characteristics of a good interview?
```
○ Child friendly setting
○ Supportive environment
○ Build rapport in a practice interview
○ Set ground rules ahead of time
○ Objective and neutral
○ Avoid use of suggestion
○ Appropriate question format
Close by thanking the child and have them ask questions
```
70
What are things to avoid when interviewing children?
○ Arriving with an agenda
○ Repeating questions
○ Using questions suggesting that particular events occurred
○ Offering praise or rewards for the desired answers
○ Criticizing or disagreeing with children who give unwanted answers
○ Inviting children to speculate or imagine what might have happened
71
What is criterion-based content analysis?
○ Attempts to distinguish between true and fabricated statements
○ Assume difference in quality and content
○ Some research supports this protocol but still being challenged
72
What is the definition of psychosocial maturity?
Psychosocial maturity: the complexity and sophistication of the process of individual decision-making as it is affected by a range of cognitive, emotional and social factors
73
What are the 3 areas of psychosocial maturity? RTP
Responsibility
Temperance
Perspective
74
What is the definition of reactive aggression?
• Reactive aggression: emotionally aggressive to perceived threat
75
What is the definition of proactive aggression?
• Proactive aggression: directed at achieving a goal
76
What are the 4 areas to address in youth forensic evaluations?
○ What are the important characteristics of the youth?
○ What needs to change?
○ What modes of intervention will be helpful for rehabilitation?
○ What is the likelihood of change, given the relevant interventions?
77
What were the rights reforms brought on by KENT and IN RE GAULT?
• Capacity to understand arrest rights
○ Rights at arrest were extended to youth in KENT and IN RE GAULT
○ Shift from paternalistic logic models to liberationist logic models during police questioning
○ Arrest rights are included in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and in the YCJA
○ Rights must be described in age-appropriate language
○ Forensic psychologist increasingly involved in capacity of youth to understand rights at arrest
• Competency to stand trial
○ Competency issues moved to forefront of juvenile courts following shift toward punishment
○ Can adult criteria be used to find incompetence in juveniles?
§ Functional component of competence established for adults applies to juveniles
§ Causal component is less clear for juveniles
□ Psychosis and mental retardation primary reasons for finding of incompetence in adults
78
What is the RSTI?
§ Risk-Sophistication-Treatment-Inventory (RSTI)
| □ Measures 3 factors, items scored based on interview, collateral sources
79
What is the EARL-20B?
○ Early Assessment Risk List for Boys (EARL-20B)
| § Family, child, responsivity to interventions
80
What is the SAVRY?
○ Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY)
§ Structured guide for adolescents 12-18
§ Historical, social/contextual & clinical risk factors; protective factors
§ Rates based on interview, records, psychological test data, collateral sources
§ Risk items correlated with violent outcome indicators; protective factors negatively associated with violent outcomes
81
What is the MAYSI-2?
```
○ Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument (MAYSI-2)
○ 52 item screening instrument designed to identify signs mental/emotional disturbance or stress
○ Seven scales:
§ Alcohol/drug use
§ Angry-irritable
§ Depressed anxious
§ Somatic complaints
§ Suicide ideation
§ Thought disturbance
§ Traumatic experience
```
82
What are testimonial stressors in children?
* Facing the accused in the courtroom
* Lack of maternal support
* Testifying on several occasions
* Lack of corroboration
* Lengthy cross-examination
83
KENT V UNITED STATES
* Landmark case established rights of young offenders in juvenile court
* US supreme court held juveniles can not waive jurisdiction in absence of hearing and safeguards
* Sent clear message to juvenile courts they would be required to provide due process protections for juveniles
84
IN RE GAULT
• Extended procedural safeguards from Kent to all juveniles in any delinquency proceeding
• US Supreme Court held juveniles must be afforded certain constitutional rights
○ Right to have notice of the charges against them
○ Right to an attorney
○ Right to invoke the privilege against self-incrimination
○ Right to confront and cross-examine witnesses
Forensic Psych
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